Finding aid for Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany), [ca. 1900-1910]
Karen Meyer-Roux
Descriptive Summary
Title: Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany)
Date (inclusive): [ca. 1900-1910]
Number: 2022.PR.19
Creator/Collector:
Dezaunay, Emile,
1854-1938
Physical Description:
12 prints
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
Business Number: (310) 440-7390
Fax Number: (310) 440-7780
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The twelve sheets are working proofs of
Dezaunay's etching Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany), which document the
process of color printmaking using multiple plates. Included are impressions with notations
by the publisher, Edmond Sagot, and by the printer, Eugène Delâtre, as well as proofs from
each color plate and proofs from the canceled plates.
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Language: Collection material is in
French.
Biographical / Historical
The French painter and printmaker Émile (Émile-Alfred-Marie) Dezaunay was born in Nantes in
1854 into a family of wealthy merchants. His mother was a first cousin of the writer, Jules
Verne. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Jules-Élie Delaunay, a painter
from Nantes, and under Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. While in Paris, he was initiated to
printmaking by Eugène Delâtre. In 1890 he traveled to Pont-Aven with a friend, Maxime
Maufra, where they met Paul Gauguin who had a profound influence on their work. Beginning in
1892, he frequented other artists at Maufra's studio at the Bateau Lavoir in Montmartre and
later became one of the founding members of the Salon d'Automne. After 1909, he returned to
Nantes and lived there until his death in 1938.
The French printmaker and printer Eugène Delâtre, the son of the printer Auguste Delâtre,
issued prints by Félix Bracquemond, Auguste Brouet, Paul Gauguin, Henri de Toulouse-
Lautrec, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, and Pablo Picasso. He played a fundamental role in
the development of color etching in late 19th-century France. He used several methods to
produce color prints, the
à la poupée method in which inks of different
colors are applied on a plate using a ball-shaped wad of cloth, and color etching
au
repérage
using multiple plates.
Administrative Information
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Émile Dezaunay,
Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany), [ca. 1900-1910], The
Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 2022.PR.19.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2022pr19
Acquisition Information
Acquired in 2022.
Processing History
Karen Meyer-Roux wrote this finding aid in September 2022.
Digitized Materials
The prints were digitized in 2022 and the images are available online:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2022pr19
Related Materials
Impressions of Dezaunay's
Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany), are at:
Musée départemental, Breton, Quimper, no. 2016.6.1
Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, no. 83.010.063
Relating to the 1898 sale of Dezaunay's works, see:
Catalogue des tableaux,
aquarelles, dessins par E. Dezaunay
. Préface d'Arsène Alexandre. Paris, Hôtel
Drouot, 25 mars 1898. The preface of the catalogue also gives a lively report of Dezaunay's
personality.
Works engraved, printed, or formerly owned by Eugène Delâtre, which are held at the Getty
Research Institute, include:
Eugène Delâtre,
[Autoportrait dans l'atelier], ca. 1894, Accession no.
2005.PR.29
Eugène Delâtre,
[At the Café-Concert], ca. 1895, Accession no. 2012.PR.8
Das Mappenwerk der Insel herausgegeben von Otto Julius Bierbaum, Alfred Walter
Heymel und Rudolf Alexander Schröder
, 1900. Accession no. 2008.PR.22
Auguste Brouet,
L'amateur, [1896], Accession no. 2013.PR.7, 2013.PR.8,
2013.PR.9
Paul Gauguin,
[La femme aux figues], 1899, Accession no. 2011.PR.31
Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen,
[Gare de l'Est], [1916-1917], Accession no.
2007.PR.33
Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen,
[Soldiers in a Trench], [ca. 1917], Accession
no. 2007.PR.34
De l'Yser au Vieil Armand : dix eaux-fortes originales par L. Grandgérard.
Paris: Imprimerie E. Delâtre, 1916. Accession no. 2008.PR.25
The records of the publisher Edmond Sagot are at the INHA in Paris:
Fonds galerie Sagot-Le Garrec, INHA, Archives 086.
Letters or works published by Edmond Sagot, which are held at the Getty Research Institute,
include:
Félix Bracquemond,
L'arc-en-ciel (The Rainbow), 1893-1897, Accession no.
2012.PR.24
Helleu, Paul,
Ed. Sagot estampes et affiches illustrées 39 bis rue de Châteaudun,
Paris,
, Accession no. 2001.PR.35
Alphonse-François Lotz-Brissonneau,
L'œuvre gravé de Auguste Lepère. Paris :
E. Sagot, 1905, ID no. 1560-628
Alphonse-François Lotz-Brissonneau,
Nomenclature des gravures sur bois, eaux-fortes
et lithographies exécutées à ce jour par J.-E. Laboureur
, Nantes ; Paris : Chez
Sagot, 1909, ID no. 90-B5220
Edmond Sagot letter to Clément-Janin, 1911 in: Clément-Janin letters received, 1904-1952,
Accession no. 860786.
Digitized Materials
The collection was digitized in 2022 and the images are available online:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2022pr19
Scope and Content of Collection
Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany) takes place in front of a small church
and within the gates of a cemetery. Lively colors and the blue sky suggest warm weather.
Women wearing the traditional headdress "Giz Fouen" are seated on a bench, their heads
lowered, and their backs turned to the viewer. In the background, at left, two women stand
in front of the side door of the church.
The print was based on a watercolor and gouache made by Dezaunay. The twelve working proofs
include impressions with notations by the publisher, Edmond Sagot, and by the printer,
Eugène Delâtre, as well as proofs from each color plate and proofs from the canceled plates.
In one impression from four plates in four colors, there are numerous instructions for the
printer, Eugène Delâtre, regarding the color inks. One sheet is a proof before steel facing,
another is identified as "Bon à tirer," meaning ready to be printed. In one proof, the
printer lists the total number of impressions made from the four plates. The set includes
cancellation proofs, a guarantee that no further impressions could be pulled from the
plates.
The working proofs belonged to Edmond Sagot and then to his successor, the firm Sagot-Le
Garrec, Paris, whose name is derived from the marriage of Sagot's daughter to Maurice Le
Garrec. Later the proofs were acquired by the Galerie Arsène Bonafous-Murat, Paris, and then
by Didier Martinez Estampes, Paris.
Sources consulted:
Musée départemental, Breton, Quimper, no. 2016.6.1
Grivel, Marianne et al.,
De Pissarro à Picasso : l'eau-forte en couleurs en
France
, no. 79
Arrangement
The first four proofs are annotated by the publisher, Edmond Sagot, or by the printer,
Eugène Delâtre. The other proofs are impressions made from three, two, or one plate.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Topics
Clothing and dress -- France -- Brittany
Piety
Prints -- Technique
Women -- France -- Brittany
Subjects - Places
Brittany (France) -- Social life and customs
Genres and Forms of Material
Prints (visual works) -- France -- 20th century
Color prints (prints) -- France -- 20th century
Printers' proofs -- France -- 20th century
Contributors
Dezaunay, Emile,
1854-1938
Delâtre, Eugène,
1864-1938
Sagot, Edmond,
1857-1917
Series I.
Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany),
[ca.
1900-1910]
Messe en Bretagne (Mass in Brittany), [ca. 1900-1910] (digitized version): [ca.
1900-1910]
Scope and Content Note
12 prints : etchings, aquatints, drypoints, roulette, 4 colors ; plate marks 31.9 x 42
cm, sheets 44 x 61.5 cm
The working proofs of Dezaunay's etching
Messe en Bretagne (Mass in
Brittany
) include impressions with notations by the publisher, Edmond Sagot,
and by the printer, Eugène Delâtre, as well as proofs from each color plate and proofs
from the canceled plates.
folder 1
2022.PR.19-1
Proof with notations for the printer
Scope and Content Note
The proof is printed from four plates in four colors. There are numerous instructions
in pencil in the margins for the printer, Eugène Delâtre, regarding the color
inks.
In the left margin: Les robes sont trop bleues, il faut un violet / Le ton rouge pas
venu sur le terrain. In the top margin: Apaiser le bleu / Jaune à salir un peu avec le
vermillon / Salir avec le vermillon / Apaiser le bleu. In the right margin: Ton de
bleu trop violent / trop jaune colorer avec le rouge / Vermillon plus intense / Trop
jaune colorer avec le vermillon.
folder 2
2022.PR.19-2
Proof before steel facing
Scope and Content Note
The proof is printed from four plates in four colors. The pencil notations refer to
the preservation process ("aciérage") by which the copper plate, which is a soft
metal, is covered with a thin layer of hard metal, such as steel.
Annotated: Ep. d'essai avant l'aciérage / X à mettre dans le tirage.
folder 3
2022.PR.19-3
Bon à tirer
Scope and Content Note
"Bon à tirer" signifies that the plate is ready for printing. The proof from four
plates in four colors is signed and annotated by the publisher, Edmond Sagot, who
indicates that the edition will consist of fifty impressions. There are instructions
in pencil in the margins for the printer, Eugène Delâtre, regarding the color inks.
At lower right: Bon à tirer à Cinquante épreuves / Ed. Sagot. In the left margin:
Foncer un peu le creux de la porte. In the top margin: Baisser le bleu au bas du
vitrail / Baisser le rouge. Numbered: 3.
folder 4
2022.PR.19-4
Proof from canceled plate
Scope and Content Note
The proof is from the canceled plate in black ink. At left of the sheet is a list in
brown ink, which is signed by the printer, Eugène Delâtre. The list gives the number
of impressions that were printed from the yellow, red, blue, and black plates, and
from combinations of two, three, and four plates.
Inscription at left: Il a été tiré de cette planche / 2 épreuves de la planche jaune
/ 2 épreuves id. rouge / 2 épreuves id. bleue / 2 épreuves id. noire / 2 épreuves des
planches jaune et rouge / 2 épreuves en 3 couleurs / 5 épreuves d'état / 50 épreuves 4
couleurs. / Certifié conforme / Eug. Delâtre.
folder 5
2022.PR.19-5
Proofs printed from three plates
Scope and Content Note
The proof is printed from three plates in three colors, yellow, red, and blue,
without the black ink.
folder 6
2022.PR.19-6
Proof printed from two plates, in two colors, red and yellow
folder 7
2022.PR.19-7
Proof printed from yellow plate
folder 8
2022.PR.19-8
Proof from canceled plate
Scope and Content Note
The proof in black ink is printed from the yellow plate, which has been canceled.
folder 9
2022.PR.19-9
Proof printed from red plate
folder 10
2022.PR.19-10
Proof from canceled plate
Scope and Content Note
The proof in black ink is printed from the red plate, which has been canceled.
folder 11
2022.PR.19-11
Proof printed from blue plate
Scope and Content Note
The proof in black ink is printed from the blue plate, which has been canceled.
folder 12
2022.PR.19-12
Proof in black ink
Scope and Content Note
The proof is from the plate in black ink or the key plate.
